Sheehan: Inside Penn State's Upset, Wildcats Big Win

There were a few games across the Division I men's and women's
landscape last week that had me thinking I was part of an April
Fools' prank. Here's a look back followed by a look ahead to the
weekend.

Penn State's upset of Florida

On the women's side, the biggest news was Penn State dominating
Florida in the second half to come away with 16-11 victory. After
facing a three-goal halftime deficit, Penn State outscored Florida
by a 10-2 margin to close the game I was not only shocked that
Florida scored a measly two second-half goals, but also that Penn
State put up 10 goals in 30 minutes against the second-ranked
defense in the country.

In the second half, Florida shot three times to Penn State's 17;
the Gators had one ground ball to Penn State's six; and Florida
only won two draw controls to Penn State's nine.

As surprising as this outcome was to me, quite honestly this may
be the best thing that can happen to the Gators. This game was
obviously not a fluke and showed that the Gators are vulnerable and
cannot take any opponent lightly.

Florida has just three games left on its regular season schedule
before the ALC tournament starts. However, even if they lose the
remaining games on their schedule, Florida will still likely make
it into the NCAA tournament.

The Gators' senior class came to Florida four years ago with a
mission to win a national championship. They have come close to
this goal, losing in overtime in last year's national semifinal to
Syracuse, but they have unfinished business. This is the time to
refocus, regroup and recharge.

Inside Northwestern's win

Meanwhile, Northwestern narrowly escaped Ohio State with a 9-8
win and later in the week topped Syracuse 13-12.

What we have learned from watching Northwestern over the years
— and their domination of women's lacrosse, winning seven of
the last eight national championships — is that Kelly Amonte
Hiller's squads find a way to win.

"They have that belief they are going to win every game, and
that is the difference at the end," Syracuse coach Gary Gait said
after the game Saturday.

Assessing his own team, Gait said "We made some mental mistakes
when we needed to make some big plays. That's how you win and lose
these big games."

I thought draw controls were going to be the deciding factor in
this game. Though history would indicate that Northwestern's Alyssa
Leonard would continue her domination of the draw circle, it was
not the case against Syracuse. Syracuse won 18 out of the 27
draws.

More surprising than Syracuse's excellence at the draw circle is
the fact that Syracuse's Michelle Tumolo did not register a point,
in fact she did not even take a shot.

Once again, the shut down skills of Northwestern's Kerri
Harrington were on display, as she took another team's top player
out of the game. Tumolo must be having nightmares about
Northwestern because she was held to just one goal in the 2012
title game too. Syracuse has nine regular-season games left on its
schedule and plenty of time to work out any kinks.

Penn's revival

Things did not look promising for Penn after opening the season
0-3, losing to Drexel, North Carolina and Rutgers.

But the Quakers have gotten in gear and the offense has averaged
more than 12 goals per game since. Freshman Iris Williamson has
been leading the charge for the Quakers, scoring 21 goals on the
season and shooting 57 percent. Williamson scored four goals
against Maryland. Any time a freshman scores four goals against the
No. 1 team in the country, it is a really impressive feat.

Games to watch

USC at Oregon, 4:30 PT Thursday

I am really looking forward to heading out to Oregon for the
first time and covering this game for the Pac-12 Network.

Only four teams make the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
tournament, where the winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA
tournament. This game is critical to both programs. Though Oregon
was the 2012 MPSF champion, the Ducks have already suffered a loss
to San Diego State.

USC coach Lindsay Munday, another former Northwestern standout
who has transitioned into coaching, has a young but very talented
squad. The edge goes to Oregon because of its experience.

Georgetown at Loyola, Noon ET Saturday

Last year the Greyhounds escaped with 15-14 win in overtime.
Loyola's Annie Thomas, Joanna Dalton and Taryn VanThof are all
coming off strong performances against UMBC and may have the
offense finally pointing in the right direction. However, I see the
Hoyas being able to take this match up, with sophomore Caroline
Tarzian leading the way.

CBS Sports Network women's lacrosse analyst and 2001
Tewaaraton Award finalist Sheehan Stanwick Burch is providing a
column forLaxMagazine.comevery
Tuesday throughout the Division I women's college season. Follow
Sheehan on Twitter@StanwickBurch. She's
calling USC-Oregon on Thursday for the Pac-12 Network and is
working the Colgate-Lehigh men's game on Saturday for CBS.